Apple sued over wetness indicators


It’s been a tough few hours for Apple. First their iPhone XXX 4G HD ]I[ gets stoled and then they get sued for those little dots inside iPhones that turn red when exposed to water. Inside the headphone jack and under the iPhone cable port are two little dots. If you go into an Apple Store to have your phone repaired and they see those things are red, you’re sunk. The Genius will shake his head, slowly, tut-tutting through thin lips at your foolishness.

Well, some folks are angry at Apple for refusing to service their potentially bewetted iPhones. However, those customers are claiming their iPhones never got wet.

The complaint says that Gallion brought an iPhone in to an Apple store for repair and was denied warranty coverage because the Apple representative determined the device had been damaged by liquid.

Gallion insisted that her iPhone had not been damaged by exposure to liquid, but had no way to challenge the determination of water damage made by Apple’s representative. She was allowed to purchase a new iPhone at a discount, provided that she paid the tax on the full price and traded in her non-functional iPhone.

Six months later, her new iPhone stopped working. Again, an Apple store representative denied her warranty coverage because the liquid contact indicators showed that the phone had sustained water damage.

A number of people are now working on a Class Action lawsuit, claiming that “As a result of Apple’s improper application of the Liquid-Damage Exclusion, Apple sells [devices] with the intent to exclude them from the warranty coverage Apple promises consumers it will provide — even when consumers pay extra for Extended Warranty coverage — simply because their Liquid Submersion Indicator has been triggered, without any attempt by Apple to verify whether the Class Devices actually have been damaged as a result of submersion or immersion in liquid.”

In the end, there has to be a better way to do this. My wife’s iPhone was refused service because of these things and my buddy bought a wet iPod Touch on eBay and put Wite-Out on his sensor and returned it for a new one (or you can use bleach). In short, Apple shouldn’t use a hammer when a scalpel is needed.